The Central African Republic has become the first country to unveil a national meme coin, with the leadership stating that the initiative partly aims to promote unity.
The Central African Republic Meme (CAR) was announced by the country’s President, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, who noted that it is an “experiment” designed to push national development, according to an X post on February 10.
The post elicited reactions, some suggesting that the account might have been hacked, but President Touadéra shared another video reiterating the country’s belief in blockchain technology.
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In the same footage, he highlighted the Central African Republic’s 2022 decision to become the second country globally to adopt Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender after El Salvador.
Indeed, the Central African Republic is banking on the cryptocurrency sector to improve its economic standing. Despite being rich in minerals, the nation remains among the most impoverished and underdeveloped globally.
Concerns about CAR’s authenticity
Concerns about CAR’s token authenticity remain a notable issue, given recent trends in which the social media accounts of high-profile users have been hacked to promote fraudulent meme coins.
For instance, such cases have impacted former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and French football star Kylian Mbappé.
To provide more updates on the Solana (SOL) network-based meme coin, President Touadéra announced the creation of a separate X account for updates on the token. However, the account was taken down by the social media platform.
Considering the rarity of a nation launching a meme cryptocurrency, there remains confusion, with several industry players citing discrepancies, particularly regarding its distribution—35% of the total CAR supply has been locked for “Country Development.”
For instance, Yokai Ryujin, founder of cryptocurrency project UnrevealedXYZ, flagged concerns over the CAR meme coin’s domain, noting it was registered on Namecheap just three days before its official announcement, an unusual move for a government-backed project.
Soon after, Namecheap took down the site, citing “abusive service.”
Adding to the confusion, several meme coins with similar names to CAR have popped up, making distinguishing between authentic and fake projects challenging.
Overall, the dynamics around meme coins took a major turn in late January after President Donald Trump unveiled his Official Trump (TRUMP) token alongside First Lady Melania just hours before his inauguration.
However, Trump was slammed for the decision, as a section of the market pointed out that launching a meme coin with no underlying fundamentals contradicts his campaign promises, such as making Bitcoin part of the strategic reserve.
CAR price analysis
CAR’s launch was accompanied by increased initial investor interest, but the token has exhibited a typical pump-and-dump behavior.
At press time, the meme token was trading at $0.144, a drop of about 81% since its launch, after peaking at almost $1 with a market cap of $176 million.
Regardless of the political backing behind CAR, the token remains susceptible to risks commonly associated with meme coins, such as high volatility and the possibility of being a pump-and-dump project.
Featured image via Shutterstock
